Exxon Mobil CEO gets $21.7 million pay package after record year

JOHN PORRETTO

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 9, 2008

AP Business Writer

Exxon Mobil Corp., whose $40 billion profit last year again broke the record for a U.S. company, gave chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson an 18 percent raise to $21.7 million, according to an analysis of a proxy statement filed Thursday.

Tillerson, 56, who's held the top job at the oil giant since 2006, received a salary of $1.8 million and a $3.4 million bonus in 2007. The company boosted Tillerson's salary to $1.9 million on Jan. 1.

The bulk of Tillerson's package was from a stock award Exxon Mobil valued at roughly $16.1 million when it was granted Nov. 28, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Texas native also received $7,774 in above-market returns on deferred compensation and $429,792 in "other compensation" that included $229,331 for personal security, $41,122 for personal use of company aircraft and $9,150 for financial planning.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC.

Exxon Mobil's 2007 profit topped the previous U.S. record _ also by Exxon Mobil _ of $39.5 billion set in 2006. For the year, sales rose to $404.5 billion _ the most ever for the Irving, Texas-based company _ from $377.6 billion in 2006.

The eye-popping results weren't a surprise given record prices for a barrel of oil at the end of 2007. For much of the fourth quarter, they hovered around $90 a barrel, more than 50 percent higher than a year ago.

Prices have remained high thus far in 2008, hitting a record of more than $112 a barrel Wednesday.

However, Exxon Mobil's record results, as well as those of some other oil companies, have come with a backlash given historically high prices at the pump of late.

Last week, top executives of Exxon Mobil and four of its biggest rivals were pressed by members of Congress to explain soaring fuel prices amid huge profits and why they weren't investing more to develop renewable energy sources.

Exxon Mobil is the world's largest publicly traded oil company. Its two biggest U.S. competitors are Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips, respectively.

Yet Tillerson wasn't the highest paid among his counterparts last year, according to documents filed with the SEC.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. chief executive Ray Irani received compensation the company valued at $34.2 million in 2007, while Anadarko Petroleum Corp. chairman and CEO James Hackett saw his pay package more than double to $26.7 million.

Chevron Chairman David O'Reilly made $15.7 million last year, while ConocoPhillips' top boss Jim Mulva got $15.1 million.

Exxon Mobil shares were off 55 cents to $89.15 in trading Thursday. They've traded in a range of $76.46 to $95.27 in the past year.